2022 Elsie MacGill Northern Lights Award Gala

Story and photos by Gord McNulty,
CAHS Vice President
posted November 2022
Event program cover of the 2022 Elsie MacGill Northern Lights Award Gala.
More than 450 attendees enjoyed the 2022 Elsie MacGill Northern Lights Award Gala, held in-person on 22 October at Richmond Hill, ON.

Presented by the Northern Lights Aero Foundation (NLAF), the 13th annual event recognized and showcased eight impressive Canadian women who are making major contributions to the aviation and aerospace industry --- and society as a whole.

The CAHS gave each of the eight recipients a one-year gift membership in recognition of their achievements and their ability to inspire, motivate and build confidence for women in all sectors of aviation and aerospace.  The membership included four issues of the CAHS Journal, volume 61 for 2023 (as well as a bonus for all four issues of volumes 58, 59, and 60, as they are published), our monthly email newsletter, and membership rates for our annual national convention.
The 2022 honourees, all of whom have superlative resumés, are:
Arielle Meloul-Wechsler (Business Award)
Gisele Garceau (Government Award)
Damineh Akhavan (Engineering Award)
Stéphanie Angrand (Education Award)
Kim Winsor (Flight Operations Award)
Zainab Azim (Rising Star Award)
Donya Naz Divsalar (Rising Star Award)
CWO (Chief Warrant Officer) Marlene Shillingford (Trailblazer Award)
As CAHS President Gary Williams wrote in a letter to each recipient, “My hope is that all of this year’s winners will inspire coming generations of young women to pursue their dreams and look to aviation as an excellent career choice.  The aviation industry is an area of high demand, and we need women, and men, to fill every occupation within the industry. Your passion for flight is an inspiration to everyone, and especially to women young and old.”
Air Canada’s advertisement on the back cover of the program featured Boeing 787 Dreamliner C-FKSV.
The event would not have been possible without the help of an array of generous corporate sponsors and the enthusiastic assistance of many behind-the-scenes volunteers, before and during the gala.

An indication of how effective the NLAF is in staging the gala lies in the fact that there are too many sponsors and volunteers to list in this space.  We extend our congratulations to the award winners and our kudos to the NLAF for another special evening.
The cover of a De Havilland Aircraft of Canada promotional brochure at the Gala.
The Dash 8-400 and the new DHC-515 Firefighter, building on the capability of the CL-415, are described in the DHC brochure.
The latest generation Twin Otter Series 400 is highlighted in the DHC brochure.
For complete photo coverage of this exceptional occasion, see the photos by Gus Corujo at www.gusair.com (2022 Aviation Events and Air Shows link) and the Facebook page of the NLAF.
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